CARTER BASHING

Jimmy Carter has been taking his lumps from the wingnuts for some time but recent anti-semitic statements from Iran's president have increased the attacks. Typically, Carter is portrayed as anti-military and here I'd like to offer a little defense: Carter was responsible for the development of the F-117, our first steath aircraft.

The results of the Have Blue testing were sufficiently encouraging that William Perry, who was at that time Under-Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering in the Carter Administration, urged that the Air Force apply the technology to an operational aircraft. During November of 1978, Lockheed was awarded a go-ahead contract to begin full-scale development of the project. This was a "Special Access", i.e. black, program, and the code name Senior Trend was applied to the project.